Public Attitudes to Mental Illness Research Paper 1. DEFINITIONS Mental illness is a broad generic term which includes major mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar affective disorders, common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, personality disorders, and various other conditions sometimes named after etiology (for example, post-traumatic stress disorder), or after abnormal behavior (for example, episodic dyscontrol syndrome). Therefore, when discussing attitudes towards mental illness, it is important that individual categories are accepted rather than broad generic terms. 1.1 ATTITUDES Attitudes form a key point of an individual’s thinking, especially toward things that matter to the individual. Attitudes have several components—some a function of the dimensions of personality traits, whereas others are a function of access. By assessing attitudes, one can measure beliefs, but it is not always likely that these beliefs can be turned into behavior. Thu...